Page 18 of Save Us
“It’s no good,” Dad says, shaking his head. “We have to speak to your head teacher and tell him the truth.”
“No!” I exclaim. “We can’t do that. I can’t give Lydia away. Her dad’s already banished her to the middle of nowhere. What do you think he’d do if it all came out?”
I remember the stuff James has told me about their father. I’ve seen the coldness in Mr. Beaufort’s eyes, James’s split lip, and Lydia’s red face.
“There’s no knowing what he’s capable of, Dad.”
Mum reaches across the table to take my hands and hold them tight. “I think it’s great that you want to protect your friends, Ruby, but we’re talking about your future here.”
“I really can’t do that to Lydia, Mum,” I croak. “I have to trust that James will convince Cyril to tell Mr. Lexington the truth about those photos.”
Mum exhales sharply and looks at Dad. His face has hardened.
“All the same, we have to speak to the head.” I open my mouth to object, but he raises his hand. “We don’t have to tell him about Lydia, but I want him to check that the photos are genuine.”
I press my lips together. It feels good to have explained things to my parents, but I’m still worried that we disagree about this.
“Please, let James try to speak to Cyril first, before we do anything,” I beg them.
Mum and Dad exchange glances.
“Can you really trust James?” Mum asks gently. “After all, he was the one who took the pictures in the first place.”
I stiffen. I just can’t help it. Of course, Mum’s right. Objectively speaking, James is the last person on earth I should be entrusting my future to. I have no rational reason to put my fate in his hands.
“He’s not what you think, Mum.” Ember comes unexpectedly to my rescue. “James really is in love with Ruby. He’d never deliberately hurt her.”
Heat rushes to my cheeks. When I look at Ember, she just shrugs. “You only have to spend a minute with the two of you to see that.”
Mum looks at Dad, whose expression is anything but happy.
I hold my breath.
“We’ll give them a week,” he says firmly. “Then we’re going to Lexington. You’ve put in too much work over the last few years to let it get wiped out by a pack of lies.” Dad’s voice is shaking with repressed fury, but before any of us gets the chance to reply to his decision, he puts his hands on his rims and wheels himself out of the kitchen.
Mum squeezes my hand. “Thank you for telling us.”
I gulp hard and nod.
“I hope you can forgive me for the way I reacted yesterday. I didn’t know how to deal with the situation.”
“I know,” I whisper, squeezing back. “It’s OK, Mum.”
She stands up and leans down to press a kiss on the top of my head. Then she follows Dad.
The sense of liberation from just now is slowly ebbing away, and the tiredness is creeping back into my limbs. I let my head sink onto Ember’s shoulder. She strokes my hair.
“Well, at least all that means they didn’t find out that I wasn’t in school yesterday,” she murmurs.
I just about summon up the strength to punch my sister in the side.
6
James
I lift my finger to the doorbell but can’t bring myself to press the little button. It feels as though someone’s put invisible iron chains around my wrists and is holding me back with all their strength.
It’s not like this is the first time I’ve stood at Ruby’s front door. It’s not the first time I’ve been anxious about meeting her and her parents. But after everything that’s happened in the last twenty-four hours, I have no idea what’s awaiting me on the other side. How I’m meant to look Ruby’s parents in the eye, or what I’m supposed to say to them. And I feel the same about Ruby. What if she’s not prepared to forgive me after all and sends me packing?
